Practice News

Wherever Her Path May Lead

The website profile of Donna Purviance shows that nursing has long been her chosen path. In 2014, Donna’s path led her to Goodman Campbell Brain and Spine as a Nurse Practitioner caring for pain patients. In 2015, she received her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the Indiana State University. Certainly, she excels at patient care, but her role as Nurse Practitioner is ever so much more. When away from the clinic, Donna’s circle of influence is growing as she teaches about substance abuse, advocates for expanding the role of nurses, publishes her professional research, and touches the lives of patients in the developing world.

This past year, Donna has made great strides in teaching and advocating for the causes she believes in. She has lectured in academic settings to educate nurse-practitioners-in-training about new guidelines for prescribing opioids issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is equally at home in front of her professional peers when informing them about new state laws related to addiction and substance abuse. She has networked with state legislators to advocate for the role of advanced practice nurses in Indiana and to propose new laws.

As well, Donna is taking steps to ensure that her research efforts reach new audiences. She and her coauthors await the publication of their article on “Law Enforcement Attitudes towards Naloxone following Opioid Overdose Training.” This work will appear in the journal Substance Abuse.

Donna’s influence has extended to lands far beyond Indiana. In July 2016, she traveled to Nigeria, in West Africa, as a medical liaison with the MOYA Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded to provide education and therapy for children in developing countries with special needs, such as autism, Down syndrome, and deafness. Donna shared her experiences in Nigeria: “We held 3 medical clinics. In the clinics, we assessed children for hearing impairment, vision impairment, and cognitive impairment…. We also had one day when we assessed adults and children and at that clinic I evaluated approximately 250 individuals in 6 hours.”

She is back in Indiana now, assessing patients’ pain, composing the next lecture, drafting the next article, advocating for Nurse Practitioners, and planning her next mission trip. While Donna’s profile reveals the stepping-stones of the path she has chosen, only time will tell where her path may lead.

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